Orange
by Valkyrja Jaeger
Summary: Inaho decides upon his first visit that it is his duty to make Slaine feel a bit happier while keeping strict to Asseylum's request, so he starts off by talking to him, then gifting him a mug. Followed by a book, then a bouquet with a little extra on the side. Post cour 2. Oneshot


**I don't own A/Z. If i did? Orangebat happenings.**

**im such a dick i literally came back with a/z fanfics instead of shingeki updates lol :(  
**

**k so i didnt even mean to ship orangebat? like. i just saw pictures and i just "ths is perfect i love it"**

**lol warning: ooc bc isnt every character in fanfiction ooc or an AU also rlly awkward sexual implications . and uh, spelling mistakes everywhere probably.  
**

* * *

Slaine Troyard is constantly bothered. These days, he has been constantly exported from his prison chambers to meet the man who put him in here by orders to suffer. Today was the same like every other past sixty-two days he's stayed here for. His daily life, before he realized it, had began to follow some kind of repeating schedule.

He would wake up when the sun was already up and shining, take a bite of his meal (one bite was really all he took and needed to last a day), and approximately by the time lunch is about to be served and the sun had flown passed his window, the guards unlock his cell, and he is escorted out of his cell, and into the room made of hard, bulletproof glass. And shortly after, Orange would arrive.

He would descend down the stairs in his usual attire, clad in a uniform, eye-patch and all, wearing his casual, undefeated, blank expression. Then, he would try to create small talk, but ever since his thirtieth visit, he's been a bit more consistent, verbally persuading Slaine to fall into a conversation with him. Egging him on, even going as far as complimenting him and aggravating him for a wanted response, and when Slaine doesn't follow his conduct, Inaho gets a bit impatient.

That's when he tries to spike small attacks on him by forcing Slaine in an unrealistically gentle way- sometimes,_ too gentle_ to be called taunt- by playing games such as chess with him.

In the end, either way, Slaine had no choice but to give in. _Inaho just would not allow Slaine to be uncooperative_, and that's how it's been ever since. And Slaine realizes that he is slowly, _undeniably_, starting to enjoy Inaho Kaizuka's company.

During his thirty-eighth visit, Inaho pesters Slaine to eat more and gives him small tips and advice on how to stay mentally happy with a small reminder to _"release"_ his urges every now and then. Upon saying this, he quickly leaves a red-faced Slaine, who felt unsure, attacked, confused, and embarrassed. By the end of their discussion, Slaine finds himself thinking about his food a bit more often and takes Inaho's tips into consideration, ignoring his '_release' _tip.

The forty-third time Inaho visited, Inaho gives him a present. A simple,_ orange_, ceramic mug with a white handle, and with the insides painted in white. That day, Inaho leaves the room leaving an irritated Slaine to himself, with a curl playing on the edge of his lips. They both realize shorty after this visit that they have finally started recognizing as close friends.

With a small shift, Slaine moves in his seat, and just as his thoughts are about to drift away again, _he_ enters the room, and immediately, brilliant teal met with a rich, red color.

"Have you _'released'_ any of your urges lately, Bat?" Are the words that roll out of Inaho's mouth when he enters the room, his expression impeccable.

Slaine sighs with a disgusted undertone, and he wonders how Orange can keep such a straight face after saying such an embarrassing thing. "You're _shameless_," Slaine admits with a shake of his head, closing his eyes and listening to the door close gently behind Inaho, followed by carefully timed, precise steps.

"Rather than shameless," Inaho drawls as he pulls his chair from its place, and seats himself onto it in an almost robotic fashion, "I'd say it is curiosity."

Slaine snickers at his response, deciding to play at his own pace. He swivels in his seat and presses a daring smirk onto his lips, eyebrows slightly furrowing as he pulls his elbow onto the desk, cradling his face with his right hand. "Would it satisfy you to know?" He offers with a certain taunting tone, "Or do you find such disturbing?"

"Disturbingly _pleasant_, yes. Tell me all about it." Inaho replies with a tone which challenged Slaine. Burgundy burned into teal, and immediately, the blond haired boy flushed from his neck up to the tips of his ears, red. And the feeling which fills Inaho shortly after seeing this gives him utmost satisfaction.

Slaine clicks his tongue, averting his gaze almost immediately, "Why are you here?" He queries, deciding not to drag the other topic on before the perversity got uncomfortably, and regrettably high.

Inaho raises an eyebrow at this question, "What do you mean? I've been coming here almost daily frequently, and you ask me this as if you have no clue of my purposes." Inaho purposely aggravates Slaine by continuing further, "Don't tell me your senses have gone blunt."

Slaine's red face darkens a shade upon hearing this, "I really don't understand why! You've been coming here too often, aren't you busy? Don't tell me that you're simply following Princess- no," he pauses to correct himself, "Empress Asseylum's orders, because I am sure you have other motives behind that. If you were merely following a request, you wouldn't go as far to check if that being is well frequently, would you?" Slaine ends with a small sneer.

Silence overwhelms the two for a brief moment, but Inaho is quick to rid of it.

"You're absolutely right," Inaho agrees, watching Slaine's facial features turn into one of absolute victory, "however, my ulterior motives are of nothing which means danger to you, or anyone near you. You simply interest me, is all."

Inaho found that there weren't too many interesting people in this world, and so far, only Slaine and Asseylum have caught his utmost interest. However, he came to an understanding that Asseylum was busy, and rather naïve with surroundings, and so Inaho slowly began to lose interest in her.

Slaine however, caught his interest easily. Slaine and him had much in common, Slaine's intellect being vast in many areas where Asseylum was not. He felt that Slaine was probably one of the only people who understood what he said, mostly because Slaine would try to counterattack his words with other intelligent observations. Slaine was pleasant to talk to, overall. Especially ever since after Slaine slowly became more livelier upon the information of Rayleigh scattering. He became defensive, and in the end, came to accept the fact that he was wrong about the sky being blue due to refraction. But that was when he began to started to throw things back at Inaho, things Inaho didn't know about Vers and life on the moonbase.

Inaho did realize something about Bat upon hearing the stories about Vers, though. He was very reluctant about talking about his past. Even more reluctant to speak about how they treated him, and so, Inaho figured that Slaine wouldn't want to talk about it. He was fine with that, he didn't want to prod answers out of Slaine. He had made his main goal during the second time he came here to take care of Slaine. He would ensure his happiness.

"You know," Slaine slowly begins, raising an eyebrow at Inaho, "I can take that both in an offensive way and a non-offensive way, right?"

Inaho hums to acknowledge this, and Slaine sighs at his lack of word. Slaine decides to take it as a compliment and an awkward silence grows between them.

"Slaine," Inaho started, immediately catching Slaine's attention, seeing as the boy dressed in blue shifted almost right after the word left his mouth, "do you like reading books?"

"Um," Slaine paused for a second, unsure where this newly struck conversation was going to lead to, "yes, I do."

"Good," Inaho smirked with satisfaction, taking the small book he had managed to keep hidden under his jacket out and sliding it over to Slaine in a respectful fashion.

The older male blinked in confusion, reading the words on the book. He scoffed, feeling slightly insulted once he read the title. Slaine was about to retort until Inaho stood up. "Leaving?" He questioned curiously. This was a first. He usually left late.

"I only dropped by because Yuki-nee asked me to get some errands and I found some spare time," Inaho coolly responded, fixing himself before turning around, "besides, all I really wanted to know was if you liked books or not."

"I.. see," although Slaine had pieced everything together, he couldn't help but feel disappointed once he saw Orange's back turned to him.

"Read the book by tomorrow," Inaho does not say anything more when he opens the door and closes it.

* * *

The moment the guards are finished escorting Slaine back to his cell, he reads.

* * *

The following day, Inaho does not come by.  
Slaine feels a turmoil grow in his stomach.

* * *

The next day, Slaine is escorted to the glass room again, and he finds it extremely out of ordinary that Inaho is already there, sitting down. Slaine mumbles a little greeting which apparently went unheard. He seated himself across from the brunet.

"Slaine," came a familiar voice which Slaine could only recognize as Inaho's. Slaine raised his head to meet his gaze, a questioning look on his face. "Did you read the book?" Inaho queried with a surprisingly soft voice.

"Oh," Slaine sounded pleased that he had asked, and he smiled slightly, "yes, I did! I barely caught any sleep due to it, but it was definitely worth my time.. I didn't know flowers could have such deep sentiments behind them." He hummed softly, "Some tragic, some too sweet..."

"What do roses mean?" Inaho asked bluntly, as Slaine gaped at him as if he had asked the stupidest question ever.

"Are you toying with me?" Slaine asks, disparagingly so.

"No," Inaho replies, blinking, although it is clear to Slaine that he is lying through his teeth, "what do they mean?"

Slaine pauses for a moment, wondering if Inaho was lying. He then let out a small defeated sigh, "Red roses mean: '_I love you_'."

"How about_ orange_ roses?" Inaho smirks slightly at the irritated look on Slaine's face.

"What am I," Slaine scoffs sarcastically before pressing his right hand's palm onto his cheek, elbow flat on the table, "a thesaurus?" He comments before replying to Inaho's question, "They mean '_fascination_', or, '_I am fascinated with you_'."

"Is that so?" Inaho closes his eyes, standing up from his chair and turning around to head to the door.

"Leaving already?" Slaine is surprised yet again. This would be the second time in two visits straight.

Inaho does not say anything. He merely opens the door and closes it.

Slaine feels offended and victimized, as if he had done something wrong. Was it because Slaine responded to him snappily? However, usually, Inaho wouldn't leave even after such. Maybe-

His train of thought cut off once the door opened and closed yet again.

Teal met burgundy, and Slaine felt his eyes start to widen. There, a few inches away from the door, stood Inaho Kaizuka with a bouquet of orange roses, bundled up.

"What the..!?" Slaine trailed off, standing up in, his legs pushing the chair back as he watched Inaho make his way towards him.

Inaho, upon arriving to the desk, tosses the flowers to Slaine, knowing he would catch it. His actions are ungraceful and sudden, and he quickly sits down.

"Orange-!?" Slaine himself isn't sure if he is referring to the color, or to Inaho. That is all he could make out after seeing a pile of such a color being thrown at his face anyway.

It takes Slaine a moment to remember what orange roses mean, and he laughs for a moment, "Are you telling me you are utterly fascinated with me, you bastard?" He furrows his eyebrows, looking at Inaho. Inaho stares back for a moment, and slowly, his eye trails downwards onto the table.

Curiously, Slaine follows his gaze, and he blinks twice once he sees it.

A stuffed, orange envelope.

"Of course," Slaine rolls his eyes in mockery, "_give me everything in the color I hate the most_!" He gently lays the bouquet down and takes the stuffed envelope into his hands. He tears it open and almost immediately, orange peels fall out of it, followed by a small note and a loud clink.

Slaine blinks twice again. He takes the mandarin colored note and reads the deep, orange ink:

_Slaine Troyard._

_Yes or No?_

Confused, Slaine is about to ask what Inaho meant by this, but something out of place caught his eye. Within the field of orange petals, torn orange paper and orange peels lay a silver of steel, and his heart quickly stops.

Inaho continued to stare at him, for once, having enough patience to wait for a reaction to happen.

Slaine gulps and scrutinizes the ring.

The band is silver and simple with intricate engravings and designs on it, and he is more than surprised to find a sapphire gem embedded in the center of the ring.

"I bought that yesterday, and I thought that sapphire suited your eyes," Inaho thoughtfully answered his unasked question.

A pregnant silence washes over them, and Slaine shortly realizes that Inaho was probably nervous for the past few days. Maybe that was why he left early the other day.

The thought makes Slaine go red and laugh.

"Orange be damned!"

* * *

The next day Inaho visits, he stays for the night, and they sleep on Slaine's new mattress, hand in hand, rings touching one another.

* * *

**BYE**

**confession: ididntwatchtheanimelol**

**i think i used a lot of terms wrong but like :^) enjoy**


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